Mount Suggestion needed.

Hi, I'm in this hobby for a year, read lot of articles. little experienced now. I own Meade ETX-125.I ordered iOptron Versa 108mm ED, but i couldn't able to decide which mount to buy. I'm thinking of LXD75. But my budget is some where below $500. Bcoz i needs to buy other items like auto-guide and some eyepiece. Now I'm more interested on AstroPhotogrphy.

Below $500 new with the weight load you need is going to be tough. You could look for used mounts which is the only way you could get an LXD75 anyway.

Really I would have gone the other way on my budget. I would have spent the 1500+ on the mount and bought a cheap ota. AP is all about the mount. I regret going with a CGEM and C11HD. I should have spent bigger on the mount and used a cheaper refractor to start with.

I would highly suggest delaying your purchase of an guide-camera and raising your mount budget. The iOptron ZEQ25 seems to be a good candidate (though a relatively new product) for good AP performance on a budget, and the Celestron AVX would be a better choice then the LXD75 or CG5 should you want a more "standard" EQ design. As Mark indicated the mount is probably the single most important factor in astrophotography so it is worth the extra spend or delay of auto-guide equipment to get a larger mount. Having started my own imaging with a CG5 I would say the AVX or ZEQ25 would be the lowest end mount you should consider, an Atlas EQG or CGEM being beter choices should you be able to afford them (perhaps used?).

Even if you have to save up for a few months to get that autoguide equipment after purchasing the mount you can still do nice unguided wide-field images with camera lenses, image brighter objects with shorter exposures through the scope, and get your polar align, capture control, and focus procedures down pat with imaging through the scope.

Below $500 new with the weight load you need is going to be tough. You could look for used mounts which is the only way you could get an LXD75 anyway.

Really I would have gone the other way on my budget. I would have spent the 1500+ on the mount and bought a cheap ota. AP is all about the mount. I regret going with a CGEM and C11HD. I should have spent bigger on the mount and used a cheaper refractor to start with.

Thankyou Sean, thats really a valuable advise. Yeah i seen the youtube video about the ZEQ25 and looks very stable. Price is high, I needs to save some money to buy a high end mount. And also Orion EQ-G also in my mind, whats you say?

Thanks

I would highly suggest delaying your purchase of an guide-camera and raising your mount budget. The iOptron ZEQ25 seems to be a good candidate (though a relatively new product) for good AP performance on a budget, and the Celestron AVX would be a better choice then the LXD75 or CG5 should you want a more "standard" EQ design. As Mark indicated the mount is probably the single most important factor in astrophotography so it is worth the extra spend or delay of auto-guide equipment to get a larger mount. Having started my own imaging with a CG5 I would say the AVX or ZEQ25 would be the lowest end mount you should consider, an Atlas EQG or CGEM being beter choices should you be able to afford them (perhaps used?).

Even if you have to save up for a few months to get that autoguide equipment after purchasing the mount you can still do nice unguided wide-field images with camera lenses, image brighter objects with shorter exposures through the scope, and get your polar align, capture control, and focus procedures down pat with imaging through the scope.

The EQ-G is a good mount. It's been around for a long time and it has produced very good astrophotos. It also benefits from EQMOD which is an great piece of software completely free.I would not call those mounts high end but they do what they are supposed to do.IMHO the EQ-G would be an excellent entry level AP mount.

Thankyou Sean, thats really a valuable advise. Yeah i seen the youtube video about the ZEQ25 and looks very stable. Price is high, I needs to save some money to buy a high end mount. And also Orion EQ-G also in my mind, whats you say?

As Andy said the Orion Atlas EQ-G (also called the Skywatcher NEQ-6 outside of the US) is a proven performer for AP. It has a higher weight capacity then the ZEQ25 or AVX so you would be easier able to load on equipment such as guide scopes, etc, or a larger telescope should you get one down the road.

The load capacity thing is something to keep in mind for sure. There is a very general rule that the useable load for imaging is something like 1/2 or 2/3 the rated "max" load. Now this varies as some scopes have overly optimistic max loads (the CG5 comes to mind) while others seem to be under-rated.

I looked up your 108 ED scope - looks like it should be a nice imaging scope! I see it is listed at 10lb for the OTA, add on the tube rings, dovetail bar, camera, guide-cam, guide scope, etc and you will probably double that. This is on the high end of the ZEQ25's listed load capacity but with the relatively forgiving 648mm focal length and what *seems* to have been the results from others so far it should work out fine. I have actually managed to see one of the ZEQ25 mounts in person now (though I have not seen it in operation) and I am favourably impressed.

With the Atlas on the other hand you would be EASILY under it's load rating. For this reason alone, if you can afford an Atlas (new or used) I would indeed recommend that over the ZEQ25.

Edit: If you are looking used keep in mind there used to be non-goto Atlas mounts. You will want the goto (synscan equiped) Atlas EQG or EQ6, not one of the older ones with only tracking drives.

Don't forget the Atlas' little brother, the Sirius (HEQ5). This mount has a 30lb weight rating and is a little easier to move around than the Atlas. With less than 20lbs, and a short tube scope with its small moment arm, the Sirius, with EQMOD running it is another option.

The worst thing about the Sirius is that you'll easily outgrow it if you upgrade your OTA. That's what happened to me and I finally upgraded to an Atlas. Fortunately, when I built my EQMOD interface adapter for the Sirius, I designed it to be plug compatible with an Atlas, and now the new Atlas-Pro. The commercial adapters from Shoestring are designed for a specific mount which is why I built my own.